In his first start with the Toronto Blue Jays, veteran pitcher Max Scherzer left after just three innings with right lat soreness, the team announced, and the future with his new club is immediately murky.

There have been both bigger moments and better debuts for Max Scherzer, who on Saturday made his first start for the Blue Jays, the seventh big league team for the 41-year-old veteran. What started as a shaky outing in the latest career stop for the wily right hander ended in clear pain for the future Hall of Famer who hasn’t been able to stay healthy since 2023.

His performance Saturday showed why Toronto made the investment. Facing Byron Buxton in the fourth inning, Scherzer executed a 10-pitch at-bat that ended with a swinging strikeout on a cutter. He mixed five pitches — fastball, slider, cutter, curveball, and changeup — with velocity sitting between 91 and 94 mph.